I'm not saying that the drive up the
coast isn't scenic, but I 'd already done that. I just always wanted to
see Death Valley, so after having
taken care of some business in L.A., and armed with a rental car and a
few days to kill, I drove east by myself into the desert. Never mind
that it was the middle of August, you have to take advantage of an
opportunity when it presents itself.

Just about nightfall, I reached the small
town of Shoshone, CA, the
last town before the Park entrance. To call Shoshone a small town is an
understatement.
There is one motel, a gas station, a store, and not much else. The motel
proprietor said the place had been really jumping a few weeks back when
some geologists stopped by in town. Really. I took a quick dip in the
motel pool. At about 8PM the air temperature was still over 90 and the
water temperature was even hotter. They told me the pool was fed by a
hot spring, as if that were really necessary there.

As luck would have it, the Perseid meteor
shower was taking place that night, and it was almost the new moon. I
drove out into the desert a couple of miles, pulled off the road, and
shut off the car. I stepped out of the car and leaned against it,
soaking in the warm night air. At first it was so dark I couldn't see my
hand in front of my face. As my eyes adjusted, I began to see stars.
Millions of stars. More stars than I ever knew existed.

I also became aware of sounds, rustling
sounds, strange animal sounds. It was a little spooky and I began having
visions of coyotes, rattlesnakes and scorpions sizing me up for dinner.
I grabbed my camera, climbed up onto the roof of the car, laid on my
back, and watched the show. It was quite a meteor shower that night, and
I even captured a few on film.

They gave me a few good pieces
of advice at the motel. First was to get up really early and start
into the valley before first light, so as to arrive there just as the
sun was rising, and then get out no later than 10AM before it became
unbearably hot. Second was to drink lots of water. Real lots. Like over
2 gallons per day. I didn't think I could even drink half that much, but
amazingly I did. I was told if you feel thirsty, it's too late, you are
already in danger of dehydration. I learned in extreme dry heat you
don't even feel yourself sweating, but you notice after a while that
your skin gets a little white and gritty. That's the salt from your
perspiration.

I heeded their first bit of advice and
was up and on the road by 5AM. The temperature at that hour was
comfortable but was already rising with the sun. Death Valley has an
incredible stark beauty, from the salt flats on
Devil's Golf Course, to
Badwater, the lowest point in the United States, to Zabriske
Point and the colorful, rugged badlands. Of course there was so much
to see that I stayed much longer than I should have. By noon (NOON!) I
stopped for gas in the park and the temperature was almost 120 degrees!
I knew it was hot, but I couldn't believe it was that ridiculously hot,
so I took a picture of the thermometer. The car's air conditioning was
on max and barely made the interior comfortable.

After that point I only stopped a couple
more times to take a quick picture here and there but didn't shut off
the car, lest the interior never cool off again. There was
a lot more to
see, but it finally became almost unbearable to step out of the car, so
I decided I had had enough of Death Valley. About this time I saw a sign
at the head of a hiking trail which read "Borax Flats 3
miles". I laughed hysterically out loud thinking of
attempting to hike out there in that heat and someone finding your
bleached bones by the trail. Extreme heat does strange things to the
mind. Death Valley is probably a great place to go in the winter. Maybe
next time.

I headed up and out of the valley on
Route 190 towards Route 395 and then Mono
Lake, another place of bizarre beauty. After a quick visit to Mono
Lake, it started getting dark. Since my next destination was Yosemite
National Park, I doubled back, took a quick peek at
Mammoth Mountain
ski area and June Lake, and
spent the night in a motel near Mammoth, CA. I was totally unprepared
for the change in climate. When I went out early the next morning for
breakfast, the temperature was around 50 and I was still wearing shorts!
Welcome to the mountains. Fortunately I had a sweatshirt with me.

I drove up through the Tioga Pass,
the eastern entrance to Yosemite.
Tioga Pass is around 10,000 feet in
elevation, and just the day before I had been below sea level at Badwater! The contrast in terrain and the difference in elevation in
such a short distance was amazing. The eastern part of Yosemite is not
crowded and is very beautiful. I spent the day touring as much of
Yosemite as I could, and then, after dark, drove the rest of the way to
my final destination in Silicon Valley, California. It was a great trip,
but not long enough. They never are.